Boy Overboard

Boy Overboard was written by Morris Glietzman in 2002 and details the story of a boy growing up in Afghanistan.

What do you think of or know of these words:

​AfghanistanIslam MuslimTalibanburqacivil war refugee​

Afghanistan :Landlocked and mountainous, Afghanistan has suffered from such chronic instability and conflict during its modern history that its economy and infrastructure are in ruins, and many of its people are refugees.The Taliban, who imposed strict Islamic rule following a devastating civil war, were ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001 but have recently been making a comeback. The internationally-recognised government set up following the adoption of a new constitution in 2004 has struggled to extend its authority beyond the capital and to forge national unity.Nato-led foreign combat troops had the main responsibility for maintaining security after 2001, and the formal end of Nato's combat mission in December 2014 was followed by an upsurge in Taliban activity.​

Islam at a glance:The word Islam means 'submission to the will of God'.Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over 1 billion followers. The 2001 census recorded 1,591,000 Muslims in the UK, around 2.7% of the population.

Muslims believe that Islam was revealed over 1400 years ago in Mecca, Arabia.

Taliban : The Taliban is an Islamic militant group operating in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. In the late 1990s it made a government, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It was formed in 1994 in southern Afghanistan and was helped by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.​The Taliban governed Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. During this time, its leaders put in place the strictest forms of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world.[1] Much criticism of the Taliban came from important Muslim scholars.[2] For example, if a thief was caught stealing something the Taliban would cut-off one of his hands so that he does not use it to steal again, no matter what it was that he stole. Many criminals were put to death fast and without a fair trial. Anyone who refused to follow the law was considered a non-Muslim enemy. Every male had to go to mosque for prayer (except Afghan non-Muslims) during praying times, which is 5 times daily. The Taliban became known around the world for their very bad treatment of women.[3]

Burqa

A Burqa is a piece of clothing. It is for Muslim women. They can wear it as an outer garment. It only leaves a semi-transparent mesh in front of the woman's eyes, so she can see. The rest of the body is covered by it.Other garments for Muslim women that cover less of their body are the hijab and the niqab. People often call the hijab and the niqab 'burqa' because they do not know the right word for those garments.

Refugee

A refugee is a person who has to leave his or her country. This can be because of different reasons:

At the beginning of Boy Overboard we see Jamal and his friends playing football in the rubble and debris left after a series of battles to decide the fate of Afghanistan. Twenty years of war against invading Soviet Union soldiers, followed by civil war among rival bands of militia and opposing religious groups, meant that Afghanistan had become a place where bombing and killing were part of everyday life.

Routes between towns and the countryside had become perilous. Roads, bridges and waterways had been destroyed. Water was seldom clean enough to drink. Land mines had been laid all over the country by different groups, and had claimed the legs of countless boys and girls. Hunger and malnutrition were common for many people.

In 1996 the Taliban army took control of the capital city, Kabul. Its power grew and soon the Taliban governed large areas of Afghanistan. It enforced very strict codes of conduct. Girls could no longer go to school. They were not allowed on the streets unless they wore a burqa (a garment that covers the head and entire body) and were in the company of a male relative. Women were not allowed to have jobs or to show independence in any way. They were to stay at home and look after the men. Education for girls and women was frowned upon. Books were piled up in the streets and burned. Music was outlawed. Television sets were smashed. Finding out about events elsewhere in the world became virtually impossible.

Living under the Taliban laws meant treading very carefully. Neighbours bearing any kind of grudge might decide to settle a score by informing the authorities about ‘suspicious’ behaviour. Young soldiers with guns held the power of life and death over people in the streets. To challenge Taliban rule in any way was to invite imprisonment for all your family, or even death.

During this time, millions of Afghans decided to abandon their homes and flee to safer places. Many refugees went to live in enormous camps in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. Here they waited for the chance to move somewhere better, where they could start a new life. Some children, born in these camps, grew up knowing only this way of life – their parents waiting patiently for things to change but nobody seeming to want them. ​Others sold all their goods and, in desperation, put their wealth into the hands of smugglers. These criminal networks promised to get them away to a richer country and a new life. The risks of such journeys were immense. Many emigrants travelled thousands of miles under desperate conditions. When they reached the promised lands, most were turned away or interned indefinitely in detention centres until they could be repatriated. This is the background to Jamal and Bibi’s story.

News articles - homework activities

"Australia received nearly 16,000 applications for asylum in 2013, just under 0.5 per cent of the 3.6 million applications lodged worldwide and a sharp decrease from the one per cent share of applications received in 2010. This placed Australia 30th out of 187 countries for the number of asylum applications received and 41st when applications were measured against the country's population, according to figures from the Refugee Council of Australia."http://www.smh.com.au/national/as-world-refugee-numbers-hit-50-million-australia-goes-backwards-20140620-3ajqj.html

Click HERE for some stories from Refugee children and HERE for a chart to fill in once you have read the stories

Useful page about some facts and myths about refugees Click HERE ( www.redcross.org.au)